Student of The Month: Maya Shurte

1) What instruments do you play? - “Piano and voice. I want to play the trumpet too!”

2) How long have you taken lessons? – “Started voice this year, but I’ve been taking piano for 2 years.”

3) Who are your favorite musical artists? – “Beethoven and Mozart.”

4) Favorite Food?- “Mac and cheese!”

5) What is the coolest thing you’ve learned in your lessons? - “Using the pedal on the piano can make the sound really good or bad depending on how you use it!”

6) Do you have any performances coming up? – “Not right now!”

Bryan’s Trip to Italy

This summer, Bryan had the opportunity to study music composition in Maccagno, Italy in the northern province of Varese near the Alps and Lake Maggiore. The lake and mountains were a beautiful setting for working with faculty from the Eastman School of Music and writing a short piece for the small orchestra in residence. During the program, he had a piece of music he had written performed in Italy for the first time. He had a great time and learned a lot during lectures, rehearsals, and lessons with the faculty!

After the two week program, he went to Venice, Paris, and Barcelona before returning home. To experience the cultures and great art of these three beautiful cities!

Student of The Month: Aditi Balakrishnan

1) What instruments do you play? - “Piano, violin, and cello. But, I also want to learn saxophone and sitar!”

2) How long have you taken lessons? – “I started lessons 6 years ago with guitar. I started piano shortly after and taught myself violin.”

3) Who are your favorite musical artists? – “I like a variety of music! Anything from classical to country to pop to Hindi music”

4) Favorite Food?- “That would definitely be my mom’s biryani”

5) What is the coolest thing you’ve learned in your lessons? - “How lightening the pressure on my fingers can improve the sound quality and speed of my scales!”

6) Do you have any performances coming up? – “Yes! Two school orchestra/symphony concerts and a duet with my sister at a family function! At the end of May, I have my adjudicated Piano Performance Assessment”

Student of The Month: Kareena Mehra

5) What is the coolest thing you’ve learned in your lessons in the past three months? – “Half steps and whole steps”

6) Do you have any performances coming up? – “I just played in the December Recital!”

Music History: January Edition

1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27th

1924: George Gershwin completed Rhapsody in Blue at the age of 26.

1956: Rock and roll fans under the age of 18 in Cleveland, Ohio, were banned from dancing in public unless they were accompanied by an adult.

1960: Johnny Cash plays his first jailhouse show at San Quentin prison. Among the inmates was Merle Haggard, who was serving time for burglary.

1965: The Beatles have three albums in the Billboard top 10.

1975: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham join Fleetwood Mac

1973: Pink Floyd begins recording Dark Side of the Moon

1987: Aretha Franklin was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

2006: Phantom of the Opera became the longest running musical in history.

Bravo Recital Participants!

We’re so proud of our talented students who performed in our Winter Recital! We had over 100 students perform to a packed house in almost every recital session. Next year we will be adding 4-5 additional recital sessions to accommodate the larger number of students performing!

Our next round of recitals will be held in June and they are completely FREE for parents and students. We do not charge participation fees like many schools in the area so make sure to take advantage of this great performance opportunity!

If you want to perform or would like for your child to perform in our June recitals, we will have more information and sign up sheets at the front desk starting May 1st, 2015.